Fruity Friday…Pears…

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There are around 3,000 varieties of Pears worldwide…an edible fruit shaped like a teardrop healthwise they are packed with fibre, vitamins and beneficial plant compounds…the Pear is even healthier for us than an Apple…the pear is about 83% water…pears have green, red, yellow or brown skin…

Pears are harvested at the end of the summer into early fall…Pears also ripen better when removed from the tree…

Pears can be eaten raw, poached and served as a beautiful dessert, sliced and eaten with cheese, made into a Pear preserve or dip… the options for using the pear sweet or savoury are endless…

The Chinese are the largest producer of pears followed by the Europeans …The Chinese consider the pear, which they call “li,” to be a symbol of immortality. The destruction of a pear tree symbolizes tragic or untimely death.

Asian Pears grow in the most tropical highlands of South and South-East Asia where they grow mainly in Northern Thailand.

The Asian pear is also known as nashi pear, apple pear or Chinese pear…Nashi means pear in Chinese. The Thai name for pear is Sali…

Australian Pears Goulburn River and Rico pears are also exported to here …

Pears are well known for their grainy texture which is due to gritty scierenchymatic cells which are embedded in the flesh this is a characteristic of the entire pear genus this separates it from the Apple genus.

Asian Pears have a weaker flavour which although refreshing on a hot day they are not as aromatic as European varieties.

Did you know?

The five states within the United States that produce the most pears are Washington, Oregon, California, New York, and Michigan.

In 2005, the pear became the official state fruit of Oregon.

Do you know your pears? This man does…

Another interesting fact is that the wood from a pear tree is used to make musical instruments, furniture and other items.

Pears are a true winter fruit when eaten in season…a delicious way to eat a pear is with a bowl of homemade tomato and red pepper soup with a grilled cheese sandwich…To your cheese sandwich add some slices of pear and some baby spinach leaves…

You will never want to eat it any other way…Just delicious…

Tomato and Red Pepper Soup.

Preheat the oven 375F/190C

Grease two baking sheets and place tomatoes skin side down on one, then lightly coat the peppers and onions in olive oil and place on the other baking tray also throw the unpeeled garlic into the tray…Pop it in your preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

When the tomatoes and peppers are roasted heat your vegetable stock in a pan big enough to take the tomatoes and peppers. Add your roasted tomatoes and peppers to the vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

Allow your soup to cool slightly and then either using a stick blender or your liquidiser blend to your desired consistency… Taste and season.

Serve with a swirl of cream or natural yoghurt if liked…and cheese and pear grilled sandwich…

Enjoy!

How about some roasted pears with brown sugar…

Arrange cored and halved pears cut side up in a baking dish. In a small saucepan combine 1/3 cup of apple juice and 1/3 cup of brown sugar cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

Add 3 tbsp of butter and whisk until smooth. Pour the sauce over the pears and bake at 400F/204C for 30 mins or until the pears are just tender and a light golden brown remember to baste often or all that lovely sauce will stick to the bottom of the pan.

Transfer the pears to serving dishes and top with some lovely vanilla ice cream…

Spoiler Alert! Pears can also be pickled or made into a chutney…recipes to follow in the run-up to Christmas…

That’s all for Fruity Friday see you tomorrow for Saturday Snippets…

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you again for joining me for Fruity Friday I hope you have enjoyed this post…If you have please leave a comment as I always enjoy hearing from you it makes my day xxx

 

 

35 thoughts on “Fruity Friday…Pears…”

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  6. OIKOS™-Editorial

    Lets build a Pear-Group! Lol I also love pears, we have a tree of the brand “Williams Christ” in our garden. They would be great for making pear liquor. But we don’t know how to burn liquor. So they are eaten, or pear cake is made.;-) Michael

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  9. petespringerauthor

    As usual, I found out I know a lot less about something than an expert. I had no idea there were that many varieties of pears. Roasted pears with brown sugar is another new one for me. Sounds delicious!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I know thats a phenominal number isn’t it…don’t worry Pete much that I know is only known through my research and not previously known I am sure you are very knowledgeable in your world of teaching..unlike me…Have a great weekend 🙂 xx

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  11. tidalscribe

    My next door neighbours have a pear tree, but don’t really like pears, I have an apple tree and gave them lots of apples and they kept giving me pears. When my daughter was visiting she made pears roasted with walnuts and blue cheese, my best attempt was to cook the pear halves in red wine and runny honey. Yummy. I cooked the excess pears in the microwave and they looked like tinned pears – then I froze most of them Some have come out well after defrosting, others not so good!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Lucky you…I love pears maybe some were riper than others when when you zapped them…I love pears with blue cheese and walnuts truly delicious 🙂

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